Prakash Jha booked after raid recovers Rs 10 lakh

BETTIAH: In a major damage to the otherwise clean image of Bollywood celebrity Prakash Jha, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election as an LJP
nominee from Bihar’s Paschimi Champaran, police on Wednesday booked him for unduly influencing the election.

The FIR was lodged against the filmmaker of `Gangaajal’ and `Apaharan’ fame following recovery of Rs 10.25 lakh during a raid on his election office premises on Tuesday midnight. Thirty-eight of his supporters, not belonging to this district, were also arrested. They were released after furnishing personal bonds.

The police team, led by West Champaran SP K S Anupam, also raided the election offices of two other key contestants, Congress’ Sadhu Yadav and BJP’s Dr Sanjay Jaiswal. While the cops failed to recover cash from their offices, they arrested three “outsiders” from Sadhu’s office.

Paschimi Champaran is going to the polls along with the state’s 12 other Lok Sabha constituencies in the second phase on Thursday. The SP told TOI prohibitory orders are in force in the constituency and the “outsiders” involved in electioneering were asked by the administration to leave the constituency after the end of campaigning on Tuesday evening. Jha has been booked for disobeying an order duly promulgated by a public servant, she said and added he has also been booked under the Sections dealing with exercising undue influence and resorting to illegal payments during an election.

Meanwhile Jha on Wednesday urged CEC Navin Chawla to withdraw West Champaran DM Dilip Kumar and SP K S Anupam from the electoral process with immediate effect.

“These officers have been acting as ruling NDA’s agents... After ignoring my pleas for using para military forces to create a terror-free atmosphere for the polls, they on Tuesday resorted to raids to malign me with the malafide intent to vitiate the poll process,” Jha said in his petition to the CEC.

Source : Times of India